The IE 800 headphones from Sennheiser are the ones with the most innovations per square millimeter. And for precisely that reason, these small in-ear earphones can certainly compete with much larger high-end headphones. They are brimming with groundbreaking ideas to ensure that audiophile music lovers can get as close as possible to perfect sound even when they're on the move.

When it comes to audio quality, ear-canal phones have been known to come up against their limits in the past. But the IE 800 sets new standards: with its new model, Sennheiser is now rounding off its top segment with a set of genuinely high-end portable headphones. "The sound of the IE 800 can easily compete with that of our high-end portfolio," said Maurice Quarré, Director Product Lifecycle Management Sennheiser Consumer Electronics. These dynamic in-ear phones offer fascinatingly brilliant trebles, precise bass response and a detailed, lifelike sound image with a frequency response of 5 to 46,500 Hz.

The IE 800 not only boasts innovative technology but also features a modern design and high-quality materials such as the scratch-resistant ceramic housing. Its puristic design language and black/silver finish give it that certain extra. The high-end earphones were developed and designed at Sennheiser's headquarters in Germany. And the new in-ear earphones will be produced here too.

Outstanding in-ear sound system

The interior of the IE 800 conceals many small but effective innovations: the centrepiece is Sennheiser's specially developed Extra Wide Band (XWB) driver. With a diameter of just 7 mm, it is the smallest wide-band sound transducer currently available in dynamic headphones. Its functional principle guarantees distortion-free sound even at high sound pressure levels. "Until now, high-quality in-ear headphones have used so-called balanced-armature multi-drivers," explained Senior Acoustic Engineer Axel Grell. "Reproducing the entire audio spectrum requires several narrow-band drivers to be operated in parallel. However, this results in very slight jumps and delays in music reproduction." By contrast, the miniature-sized XWB driver developed by Sennheiser is able to perfectly reproduce the entire audible frequency spectrum and beyond. The advantage: music is played back with crystal clarity and with absolute time precision.

The endeavour to fully exploit the sound potential of the premium headphones led to a further small but highly effective innovation: a vented magnet system. The idea is actually quite simple and was used for the first time on the HD 700 high-end headphones. "The oscillating motion of the diaphragm produces an air flow in the magnet system housing that causes the diaphragm to wobble slightly," explained Axel Grell. "By positioning two precisely defined vent holes in the housing directly under the magnets, we can cause the air to flow in a specific direction. This minimises the wobbling motion of the diaphragm and reduces total harmonic distortion to less than 0.06 percent."

Innovative dual-chamber absorber

With the IE 800, Sennheiser has succeeded for the first time in solving what is known as the 'masking effect'. This effect, which has a negative influence on overall sound quality, is due to the way in which our ears work. "The human ear is unable to perceive low-volume frequency components of a sound if there are much louder sounds occurring in a lower frequency range at the same time," explained Axel Grell. "This means, for example, that very loud low-frequency sounds will 'mask' very quiet sounds in the medium frequency range. This is particularly apparent in in-ear headphones. The sealing of the ear canal by the earphones normally causes resonances that result in a peak in the 7 kHz to 8 kHz range. This has the effect of masking the actual higher-frequency components. Precisely this problem has been overcome in the IE 800 by the use of an absorber. Sennheiser's patented dual-chamber system absorbs the energy of the resonance, thus preventing any unwanted peaks. As a result, all frequency components - even the finest nuances - in the music material become audible.

Finest wearing comfort

The optimum sound properties of the IE 800 are further enhanced by excellent wearing comfort. The housing is made of scratch-resistant, skin-friendly ceramic, while the ear pads consist of skin friendly silicone. This rules out any risk of allergies or skin irritation. To guarantee a perfect fit, Sennheiser has developed new ear adapters with an oval shape based on extensive international studies in ergonomics. According to their personal preference, users can choose from a selection of oval (SM/ML) and round (S/M/L) adapters. A protective mesh on the ear cushions effectively protects the drivers against dirt contamination.

Originally I laughed at people who spend hundreds on earphones, but then I bought a pair of UE TripleFi10 and I can't stand budget stuff anymore. I would rather not listen to any music than hear muddied and distorted music lacking in everything. No doubt this is a magnitude better than the TF10, but I can (now, at least) understand why people will spend this money on earphones.

If you enjoy music, I suggest you visit headfi.org, pick a decent earphone suitable for your music tastes, and give it a go. You will learn to appreciate the little details which a cheap earphone cannot reproduce properly.

edit: Really though, anybody looking in that price range would probably be going for custom-molded ones.

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There are models as good as custom's, like Sony EX1000 and these are dynamic drivers...

Previously, most people’s quest for a high end IEM would be limited to the customs molded stuff. Not anymore, as the Sony EX1000 is here to provide a fresh alternative to the high end IEM world.
Headfonia

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And these are rather cheap these days...

Still the most i can afford is up to ex510 price

I will see what Mike from headfonia's got to say about these though...

Originally I laughed at people who spend hundreds on earphones, but then I bought a pair of UE TripleFi10 and I can't stand budget stuff anymore. I would rather not listen to any music than hear muddied and distorted music lacking in everything. No doubt this is a magnitude better than the TF10, but I can (now, at least) understand why people will spend this money on earphones.

If you enjoy music, I suggest you visit headfi.org, pick a decent earphone suitable for your music tastes, and give it a go. You will learn to appreciate the little details which a cheap earphone cannot reproduce properly.

700 bucks is a bit excessive for headphones no matter how you look at it. On the other note, i think the Sennheiser MX470 is an excellent balance between cheapo headphones for 5 EUR and premium ones for 80 EUR.
They have very clear sound, quite strong bass, 3 different rubber adapters for different ears and no stupid volume control on a wire (which usually breaks after 5 uses). They aren't in-ear but i hate those anyway.
They cost me like 25 EUR from UK. Best purchase of headphones i've made in a while.

700 bucks is a bit excessive for headphones no matter how you look at it. On the other note, i think the Sennheiser MX470 is an excellent balance between cheapo headphones for 5 EUR and premium ones for 80 EUR.
They have very clear sound, quite strong bass, 3 different rubber adapters for different ears and no stupid volume control on a wire (which usually breaks after 5 uses). They aren't in-ear but i hate those anyway.
They cost me like 25 EUR from UK. Best purchase of headphones i've made in a while.

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I used to use a £20-40 pound earphone (UE Metrofi 220), thought it sounded decent enough (compared to the old crap I have), until I tried Shure 530 and Westone UM3. Personally I believe that they sound better and better as you go up the scale until about the $/£/€150 mark, when the gains become negligible and the characteristic of each earphone becomes more important.

I used to use a £20-40 pound earphone (UE Metrofi 220), thought it sounded decent enough (compared to the old crap I have), until I tried Shure 530 and Westone UM3. Personally I believe that they sound better and better as you go up the scale until about the $/£/€150 mark, when the gains become negligible and the characteristic of each earphone becomes more important.

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The biggest problem that i've seen is getting decent bass from any of them. So far i only had 1 from Philips, 1 from Sony and the MX470. I've tried many Philips headphones that stated "Megabass" and so on and they had no bass at all.

What i value more is the build quality. Mostly the absence of volume control which are ALL crap and the way how cable is attached and reinforced in each headphone.

The biggest problem that i've seen is getting decent bass from any of them. So far i only had 1 from Philips, 1 from Sony and the MX470. I've tried many Philips headphones that stated "Megabass" and so on and they had no bass at all.

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Audio Technica M50, or some Beyerdynamic gives good bass, or Monster Turbine. Honestly speaking, you will learn to appreciate balanced sound as you move up the range. People generally start with looking for good bass, but end up getting something only slightly bass heavy.

700 bucks is a bit excessive for headphones no matter how you look at it. On the other note, i think the Sennheiser MX470 is an excellent balance between cheapo headphones for 5 EUR and premium ones for 80 EUR.
They have very clear sound, quite strong bass, 3 different rubber adapters for different ears and no stupid volume control on a wire (which usually breaks after 5 uses). They aren't in-ear but i hate those anyway.
They cost me like 25 EUR from UK. Best purchase of headphones i've made in a while.

I don't think anything will beat a custom-molded IEM for comfort though. And when you're paying this much, comfort is important.

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Well, in the review, mike says the sony are more comfy than his own custom jh16, reason why despite being modeled to his ear, they are made of hard plastic, while an universal fit iem has soft rubber tips, and depending on it's quality these can be better than customs, soundwise they are compared with the jh16 being less dark and more pleasant...

This only goes to say that customs aren't exactly out of this world, and a well conceived universal iem can be on par with the more expensive customs, although these Sennheiser are rather expensive...

Im sure they will be compared with the jh16's Sony Ex 1000's and other high grade iems, just a mater of time...